


Influence of the Deep

by cherrytruck



Series: Falling for Uroboros [2]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Diary/Journal, Gen, M/M, Mixing accurate science with speculation, Unreliable Narrator, Virus Obsessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 04:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10072559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrytruck/pseuds/cherrytruck
Summary: Albert Wesker recollects his past interactions with Birkin that inspired him in his plans for Uroboros.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this headcanon idea that Birkin played a huge role in inspiring Wesker to start losing it and drive him into his obsession with Uroboros. In canon, Birkin did have his own idea of human evolution through the G-Virus based on [his diary entry from Inserted Evil](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/residentevil/images/b/b2/BirkinJournal.jpg). I'm a sucker for tropes where between a pair of people, the second in command is in fact the true driving force behind the whole story or the one who holds more power. Between Birkin and Wesker, I think Birkin is far scarier due to his more neurotic nature.
> 
> The format of this fic is inspired by Wesker's Reports and I did my best to preserve the style of the writing. In all my Birkin related fics I have the habit of referencing other headcanons from my previous works to keep some flow of consistency. Also I've cited sources in my other fics before but the factoid about viral DNA being integrated in humans is true! Everything else is just speculation (from the characters, not mine) and Capcom style science.
> 
> I stole the title from the music title from Parasite Eve's OST x)

Though a long time has passed since my time at Umbrella, I still reflect on those days when things were simpler. Even back then, I was already planning something that would lead to Uroboros, though obviously at the time I didn’t know what form it would take exactly. It was purely ambition-driven, some kind of innate force I simply never questioned.

But I remember I was certainly influenced by my peers. And I remember the scent of the wind when I first set foot in Umbrella, the breeze of the cold air, and how it blew against the person who would eventually be someone I would share a significant part of my life with.

This person - this boy - so youthful with the innocence of his childhood still trailing him, and yet a level of wit and intelligence that went far above my own standards. He was only sixteen.

William Birkin. A plain name, but one I would never forget.

Before he stepped into the picture, I was considered to be a potential prodigy. Dr Marcus favoured me for my ambitious attitude. But when William was recruited, I was pushed to second best. He outshined me in the academics, the theories, the assignments and everything that wasn’t muscle work. He was more juvenile than myself and not as good at controlling his emotions, but his passion for his work outweighed mine.

When he first began his research here, he wanted to focus on Ebola. He was fixated on that virus, at least while the short affair lasted. One would have thought those research papers his eyes were constantly glued to were love letters for him.

Maybe for William, they may as well have been.

~

When I undertook my work at Umbrella as a research intern, it didn’t really phase me what I’d do as long as I could one day reach a higher position to establish my presence. I would have happily gone into any field as long as my end result was power.

But for William, he was only there for one reason: Virology. He accepted nothing else in his mind. It was all he could ever talk about. He breathed it. He craved it. He lived it.

I knew about the story of his father being an unfortunate victim of Ebola and how it seemed to ignite William’s passion for the field - a bizarre way to come to love viruses, but I could understand the appeal of pursuing its power.

Still, it confused me how anyone could be so committed and faithful to only one particular subject. Of course I found virology interesting, but only enough to maintain my position in Umbrella without costing me my own wellbeing. William, however, was willing to pour everything into these small strings of genetic matter.

It was one lazy afternoon that I managed to press him more on this topic and to learn something new.

“Why, William? Why do viruses continue to fascinate you so?”

William gave me a look as if he was waiting for me to ask him that. “Did you know our DNA contains viruses? We are the embodiment of what viruses become when they form a collective over the years of our species’ evolution. We’re all made from the same material.”

It was a series of facts I genuinely didn’t know. I knew both human DNA and viral components were made of nucleic acid, but not that our DNA - my own DNA - was made up of viruses.

“What do these viruses inside our genes do?” I enquired. This was clearly a depth of the field that he was keeping up with, far ahead of myself.

“We don’t know. That’s still a mystery. But that’s all part of what makes it so interesting for me, to see what viruses truly are.” William then shifted his gaze away from me as he put on rubber gloves, ready to take out more virus samples and proceed with the day.

~

It’s amusing to think that there was a time when seeing a human being used as a test subject and breaking safety protocols was something that alarmed me.

I once reported seeing Dr Marcus pouring leeches onto his unfortunate subject. I did it more out of following the rulebook than anything. I didn’t want to be held accountable for Dr Marcus’ actions.

I learned quickly that I had misunderstood Umbrella’s ways. Human experimentation wasn’t unheard of here. The reason Umbrella was so ahead of its competitors was because it authorized trials that would otherwise be blocked by the laws that other pharmaceutical companies were bound by.

But it didn’t hit me until I met...her. The test subject who made it clear to me that perhaps, her presence was the consequence of not complying with Umbrella. Though I don’t have a clean conscience about it, I felt a genuine curiosity to understand how she was still alive, infection after infection. It was the first time I had felt curiosity in its purest form for viruses, rather than simply seeing them as secondary to my own ambitions.

William however was less disturbed. I asked what his thoughts were on the subject. He turned towards me and gave me a smile that looked uncannily angelic.

“I envy her.”

~

Though I was never as good as William, he continued to let me work alongside him. I was still more proficient than the other researchers - and perhaps the only one that put up with him.

He was incredibly demanding. He talked down to anyone who was too many steps behind.

He would sometimes talk down to me too.

“You can’t submit this kind of data! This is nothing but...chaff! Albert, I’m not accepting this!”

It was easier to hide my irritation behind the glasses than to fight back. I had to tell myself to hold out and put up with this man, let him have his ego trips. The price of absorbing a few trivial insults was worth the endless possibilities inside that brain of his.

I reminded myself these silly insults were just words. But sometimes, I found myself wondering if perhaps I really was too weak.

~

William had a cruel and heartless mind, but his exterior showed him to be nothing more than an average man who wanted to earn a living and have a regular family life.

And it scared me when he truly managed to capture Annette’s heart. They got along from the very beginning, but I didn’t know William had what it took to convince her that he was someone who cared for others and ready for commitment. He managed to fool everyone else as well.

Suddenly William became popular, beloved not only by his new wife but even colleagues who had never been fond of him. He was showered with praise and attention. Perhaps he didn’t realize it, but he masterfully used emotional appeal to manipulate other people’s perspectives of him. I sometimes wondered if I fell into his little game without being aware of it myself.

But I suppose even someone like William was capable of love. It made sense, actually. He was always the kind of guy who needed attention. Annette gave it to him, and it pleased him.

Still, there were a lot of things I could learn from Dr Birkin, and not just about viruses.

~

 

After years of being trapped under the ceilings of Umbrella, I still didn't know what Spencer's true intentions were. I knew Birkin was none the wiser, but understanding more about this G-Virus project may have helped me seeing how Spencer was only too happy to approve the project.

I knew Birkin researched only for his love of virology. There was nothing more, and nothing less.

But what did he understand would be the end point of the virus? Although we had considered the T-Virus project complete on our end, it was only preliminary data for further research. We couldn't use it for anything. There was no way either Spencer or Birkin would have wanted to settle just for that with the G-Virus. I had to find out where this was going.

I feigned interest in Birkin’s new project over coffee during unconventional hours. I did my best to keep up with the conversation in spite of my fading knowledge of the sciences.

“What do you hope will come of the project by the time you complete it?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Albert? You’ve known me for all these years and you still wonder? Everything I do is for my family, and the greater good of humanity. I want to make the world a better place.”

Coming from Birkin, it actually took some effort not to laugh. Birkin didn’t care about the state of the world so long as he could continue his research. What was with the sudden moral motivation?

“William, your project involves a virus that could be used as a biological weapon. You do realize that, right?”

“Of course I do, I’m not stupid. That’s why only I am allowed to get my hands on it. I don’t want others misusing my creation for something so foul.”

Birkin was sounding more and more unusual. I thought he didn’t care if his viruses were let loose and took their natural course. He sure didn’t seem bothered when Ebola killed his father, and its many other victims.

“How will you turn something so dangerous into something that will shape the world into your ideal image?” I asked in genuine curiosity.

Birkin looked at me. His face sure had changed over the years: his eyes had lost colour and were surrounded by dark circles, and his skin looked unhealthily pale. It almost made him look like death, but his smile still had the very same expression as his youth. 

“You really do need to catch up, Albert. The G-Virus is capable of cellular regeneration. However, it’s not tolerated by standard living cells in its current state. You remember how I gave that speech about how all medicines are simply just poisons that have been titrated enough to become therapeutic? I plan on creating that fine balance for the G-Virus. I can improve its regenerative abilities and make it compatible with human life.”

“So the great Dr Birkin wishes to find a universal cure that humans can use to their benefit rather than to their detriment?” I didn’t ask about the technicalities of the G-Virus. It had gone beyond my comprehension by then.

“Precisely.” The compliment of his name was enough to make his face light up, in spite of my lack of understanding of his motives even after so many years. “It’s going to move humanity into the next step of evolution. We’ll become clinically immortal. No longer will our bodies grow frail and weak. I’ll do what my father and many doctors have tried but failed to do - cure all the world’s diseases! And to think it began with what ended up killing my father. How poetic is that? It reminds me of that poem by William Blake. The lion that once predated on the animals now becomes the guardian and protector in the presence of God.”

Birkin’s speech made me think. The idea of the G-Virus being used to create world peace was a little too ambitious - and too altruistic for Umbrella’s real motives. I highly doubted they were legitimately interested in such a cause.

And I initially didn’t buy that Birkin was only finding his own twisted way to create a humanitarian cause. The more I dwelled on it, however, the more it made Birkin’s motives clear. Birkin prided himself on accomplishment. He had his strange affinity with viruses and believed that the genetic intimacy between humans and viruses blurred the line between our differences. He truly believed that perhaps the integration of viruses in our DNA was what historically drove our process of evolution - and now, he wanted to force that process artificially through his research.

Meanwhile, I simply wanted to test the effects of the T-Virus to establish control for myself. I reflected on our differences in motivation.

Perhaps all this time, it was I who craved power. Birkin never wanted power for himself.

But he certainly was an effective enabler.


End file.
